Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1887-03-31
THE FOREST HILL DISASTER.
A Boston Doctors Description Of the Heart.
rendering Scene He Witnessed.

Boston Doctors Description Of the Heart
rendering Scene He Witnessed.
ton doctor to arrive on the
scene of the disaster OF Forest Hill, was
DR.. Thatcher Goddard, of No. 8 Park
Square. He did heroic work in relieving
the wounded, of whom he attended quite
a number. The doctor received the news
of the catastrophe at 1925 O'Clock and
dressed SO speedily that he succeeded in
getting the 1856 o'clock train. Upon ar
irving Eat Jamaica Plain the train was
stopped, to allow the doctor to get some
ether and morphine at the apothecary
store. Lying across the rails or the en-
bankment near the abutment of the
bridge, DR.. Goddard noticed the body of
conductor Tilden, which was disenbowled
and had one leg torn from it. In an in
terview with Boston Herald reporter DR..
Goddard said:
'After seeing Tilden's body, I went
down the embankment fand heard some
one call me by name. 1 saw man lying
On the ground and grooming In pain. His
face was so blackened that [ did not
recognize him at first. But in mo-
ment saw that it was Mr.. George A.
Dorm, who resided On Baker street, West
Roxburry, of Lords grocery store, Boyl-
ston street went to his side and he COM
planned of pains in his back. He asked
me where he had better be taken to, and l
said to the Massachusetts, general hospi-
tai. 1 saw him placed on team then
taken away. The next man L attended
to was a gentleman whose right shoulder
and arm were crushed. Some one had
tied handkerchief around his arm to
stop the fow of blood, but it got loose.
He was bleeding again badly, so l put on
new tourn gust and gave him morphine
to relieve his pain as he seemed to
be suffering terribly. The man showed
great heroism and thodght for the needs
of the other unfortunates who were
shrieking and grooming In agony all
about him. He said to me:
"'Doctor, there is man over there who
seems to be suffering more than l am. l
can stand it awhile. Attend to him and
me afterward.'
81 think that man was a hero. The man
he referred to I found had both thighs
terribly crushed. I next observed the
bodies of two young women minus their
heads, which had been placed over near
the stone WALL | also saw two young
women in one of the cars. A heavy floor
beam rested tightly across the back of
one Of them, and beneath her was the
other woman. Both were dead, and the
rescuers had to rig tackle in order to
lift the beam off their bodies. After
that l went to the house of chemical No.
4, in RoslindaIe, where number Of the
wounded had been taken. There L
found four persons who were INJURIES.
A number of the ladies residing in
~ - ho ,,1o Thou bod
brought blankets, mattresses, sheets, and
bandages, and were doing all in their
power to alleviate the sufferings of the
injured I went to work at once bandag-
ing, sewing up wounds, and administer
ing morphine and whisky. One very pa
thetic incident occurred here which
brought the tears into the eyes OF every
one who witnessed it. young man
named Harry Gray called to me to attend
him. 1 knelt down by his side and ex-
amined him. saw that he must die, for
he had bad fracture of the skull. The
young man bore his injuries bravely. He
said to me: doctor 1 want you to tell
me truly if L am going to die?". replied
that was afraid he was. Then he said:
4 don't mind dying; all [ care for is my
wife and little one Then he grew I'M
CONSCIOUS, anu d ulluuUS lhGSI saw bhdU
he was dying. Just then two ladies, one
young and the other older, came in by
side door. The young lady was about
twenty-five yerars of age and quite pref
ty. The eldest said that the youngsr one
was looking for her husband, who was on
the train, and from whom they had not
heard a word. They feared that he was
killed or injured and wanted to look at
the I'M ured men there. The young wo-
man looked the injured all over, and as
she did not recognize her husband among
the number, CLEAN of hope seemed to
light up her countenance. Then she
came to the young man Harry Gray, who
was dying. The moment she looked at
him her face turned as pale as a sheet,
and instinctively her hand clutched the
region of her heart. My God, he is
breathing his last she said, as she reco
nized her husband. She began to reel, and
her com panion put her arms around her
and led her gently away from the death
scene. Then she seemed to summon up
all her strength and courage, and
wanted to go back to her husband
in the hope that he might be able to
say one last word to her. But he was
dying fast, and when she knelt down
DV MS Sue lie WAS utdus LII was d very
affecting scene. Then I left the place,
having done all 1 conld, started for the
city. While waiting on the depot plat
form for the train, noticed an elderly
woman who was crying and wringing her
hands. Her daughter was on the train
and she was almost wild with anxiet !,
not having heard word about her. Just
then train from Boston arrived and
three young women got off. They
had been on the wrecked train, and had
received some slight injuries, but not of
a serious character. They had gone to the
city to get their wounds dressed. AS they
got off from the train the elderly woman
caught sight of them and recognized one
as her daughter. Her feelings of JOY
overcame her, and she fell upon her neck,
crying with JOY and thanking God that
her life had been saved"
1t All Depends.
Wall Street News.
She had selected the biggest trunk In
hon IL Il